Confirmed: G-Sync Monitors Trigger Mass Power Consumption Bug

November 7, 2015September 5, 2016by Dan Hamilton

The 165Hz ASUS ROG Swift PG279Q gaming monitor was released last week. In the mean time reviewers and users have been tinkering with the model and have discovered something unexpected is occurring behind the scene. It’s been revealed that the PG279Q and other G-Sync equipped monitors suffer from a GPU driver bug that causes an over-consumption of power when exceeding 120Hz.

NVIDIA has confirmed that their GPU drivers are responsible for a bug in which massive power consumption occurs when using gaming monitors that are equipped with its G-Sync technology and set a refresh rate over 120Hz. PC Perspective revealed in their research that there is a large jump in power consumption in the GPU when using a G-Sync monitor past 120Hz. Power consumption in the test initially hovered at 75 watts when operating at 120Hz and below. When pushed beyond 120Hz the wattage usage nearly doubled after hitting 144Hz and later reached upwards of 200 watts at 165Hz.

NVIDIA stated that PC Perspective’s findings were correct and confirmed that a driver update would be issued in the near future to fix the problem; however, no date was mentioned. The company thanked the website for their research and commented that “We checked into the observation you highlighted with the newest 165Hz G-SYNC monitors. Guess what? You were right! That new monitor (or you) exposed a bug in the way our GPU was managing clocks for GSYNC and very high refresh rates. As a result of your findings, we are fixing the bug which will lower the operating point of our GPUs back to the same power level for other displays.”

We’ll be sure to keep you updated on when the issue is patched. Bugs like this are a good reminder to always have your drivers up to date in order to prevent potential troubles down the road. In this particular case, it might save you a few bucks on your next power bill!